SUNRISE BASEBALL: Green Valley edges Silverado in nine innings

Green Valley’s baseball team lost both games it played against Silverado during the regular season.

But with their season hanging in the balance Friday night, the Gators finally found a way to end the hex.

Green Valley pushed across a run in the top of the ninth and survived some tense moments in the bottom half of the inning to pull out a 5-4 victory over the Skyhawks in the losers’ bracket final of the Division I Sunrise Region tournament at Basic.

“This is obviously the most important one out of the three,” Gators coach Corey Gehlken said.

The Gators (23-11) advance to the region championship and will meet host and top-seeded Basic (32-4) at noon Saturday. If Green Valley wins, a second game will follow.

Green Valley loaded the bases in the ninth with one out after Carter Gehlken reached on an error — one of six by the Skyhawks — and A.J. Amelburu and Matt Gilbertson singled. Drake Maningo’s grounder to short then scored Carter Gehlken with the go-ahead run.

Silverado (24-10) put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Gators reliever Justin Caputo retired the next two batters to end the game.

Maningo also drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh for Green Valley, as he singled off Silverado third baseman Kevin Pindel’s glove to score Jimmy Montiel and put the Gators on top 4-3.

“There’s no doubt, he’s one of our guys. He’s been in a lot of tight situations,” Corey Gehlken said of Maningo. “He did an unbelievable, fantastic job to make sure that he helped his team get a win today.”

The Skyhawks answered in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. Chase Cortez and Payton Ballard were hit by pitches to put runners on first and second with one out, and Dax Fellows lined an RBI single to center that tied the game.

Green Valley went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on a bizarre sequence. Matt Uran singled with two outs and stole second before Carter Gehlken walked. Montiel then hit a high popup that landed to the right of the pitcher’s mound for an RBI single after none of Silverado’s infielders made a play on the ball.

The Skyhawks tied the game at 3 in the sixth when Michael Janosik lifted a sacrifice fly to center and Pindel barely beat the relay throw home.

“Those guys are good coaches, and they do a good job with their boys,” Corey Gehlken said. “Their kids hung tough, we just came out on top in this one.”

Silverado 4, Las Vegas 3 — At Basic, Ryan Pappas pitched four scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory, and Alex Grafiada went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lift the Skyhawks past the Wildcats in an elimination game.

Pappas entered the game in the top of the fourth with two runners on and none out. He gave up a run-scoring single to Ryan Freimuth that cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 4-3 but didn’t allow a hit the rest of the way and retired the final seven batters in order.

James Skelly was 2-for-3, and Payton Ballard went 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the first inning for Silverado. Michael Janosik finished 1-for-2 with a run-scoring single in the third inning that gave Silverado a 4-1 lead.

Grafiada had a bloop single in the second to score Kevin Pindel, and Blake Zorne scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to put Silverado on top 3-1.

Diego Delgado went 2-for-4 and singled in a run in the first inning to lead Las Vegas (18-15).

David Campbell added a run-scoring single in the third for the Wildcats, who stranded seven runners through the first four innings.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ